Assessment of dynamics and variability of organic substances in river bank filtration for prioritisation in analytical workflows.

Bank filtration supports the growing global demand for drinking water amidst concerns over organic micropollutants (OMPs). Efforts to investigate, regulate and manage OMPs have intensified due to their documented impacts on ecosystems and human health. Non-targeted analysis (NTA) is critical for addressing the challenge of numerous OMPs.

Importance of hydraulic travel time for the evaluation of organic compounds removal in bank filtration.

The growing global demand for drinking water is driving both the diversification of water supply sources and their sustainability. River bank filtration (RBF) is an excellent option since it strongly reduces the extent of treatment steps compared to direct usage of surface water. Organic micropollutants (e.

Non-targeted analysis with high-resolution mass spectrometry for investigation of riverbank filtration processes.

A fully non-targeted analytical workflow for the investigation of a riverbank filtration site located at the river Danube has been developed and applied. Variations of compound intensities at different sampling locations of the riverbank filtration site and, for a single production well, over a monitoring period of one year have been investigated using liquid chromatography combined with time-of-flight-mass spectrometry followed by evaluation via non-targeted data analysis. Internal standardization and appropriate quality control strategies have been implemented into the workflow for reduction of possible methodological biases influencing data interpretation.

Assessment of Microbial Community Dynamics in River Bank Filtrate Using High-Throughput Sequencing and Flow Cytometry.

Surface-groundwater interactions play an important role in microbial community compositions of river bank filtrates. Surface water contaminations deriving from environmental influences are attenuated by biogeochemical processes in the hyporheic zone, which are essential for providing clean and high-quality drinking water in abstraction wells. Characterizing the flow regime of surface water into the groundwater body can provide substantial information on water quality, but complex hydraulic dynamics make predictions difficult.

Waste management in mountain refuges - an integrated evaluation.

Mountain refuges are an excellent example of public stand-alone infrastructures equipped with energy and water supply, and wastewater and waste disposal systems suited to operating under unfavourable conditions, often comprising lengthy distances for transportation or scarce resources. An international project was undertaken to evaluate the existing supply and disposal schemes at 100 mountain refuges both individually and in an integrated manner. On the basis of the results obtained guidelines to be applied in the sustainable planning, construction and operation of supply and disposal systems will be published in the near future.